Misunderestimating Memphis

The Graceland adventure certainly got it's share of coverage, and rightfully so. It's not everyday a head of state can be seen deliberately crooning a classic rock and roll song in a place as gaudy as Graceland.

But leave it to the mainstream press to tell us the "real meaning" behind the event. Why else would anyone come here, right?

The Washington Post weighed in and somewhat snarkily opined:

It was one thing to take his friend, Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, to Memphis to visit what evidently is now the nation's most important tourist site.

"It was one thing"? As if coming to Memphis for anything else would have been a joke.

Our local waggers also weighed in and proclaimed it a stunt, quoting a Vanderbilt Prof:

"I don't think he's doing this because he likes ... music and he and Bush get along," said James Auer, director of Vanderbilt University's Center for U.S.-Japan Studies and Cooperation. "He's doing this because it's in Japan's best interests."

Funny, I never saw Mr. Koizumi gritting his teeth. Oh well, back to the WaPo a sec. Bush didn't join in song Friday, but no matter--the Post reporter ascribed some vocals to him anyway:

The image of the politically struggling president lamenting his own heartbreak hotel might have left his advisers all shook up.

Way to get that loser tag in there, guys.

But maybe I'm just too sensitive. We southerners can get that way about the homeland sometimes. So, in the spirit of togetherness I'm posting the following, which is going around the net right now. Read in the spirit of diversity!

One morning, three Southerners and three Yankees were in a ticket counter line at a train station. The three Northerners each bought a ticket while the three southerners just bought one.

"How are the three of you going to travel on only one ticket?" asked one of the Yankees. "Watch and learn," answered one of the boys from the South.

All six boarded the train where the three Yankees sat down, but the three Southerners crammed into a toilet together and closed the door. Shortly after the train departed, the conductor came around to collect tickets. He knocked on the toilet door and said, "Ticket, please. The door opened just a crack and a single arm emerged with a ticket in hand. The conductor took it and moved on.

The Yankees saw this happen and agreed it was quite a clever idea. Indeed, so clever they decided to do the same thing on the return trip and save some money. That afternoon when they got back to the station, they bought a single ticket for the return trip and watched to their astonishment as the three Southerners didn't buy even one ticket.

"How are you going to travel without a ticket?" asked a perplexed Yankee. "Watch and learn," answered the three Southern boys in unison. When they boarded the train, the three Northerners crammed themselves into a toilet and the three Southerners crammed into another toilet just down the way.

Shortly after the train began to move, one of the Southerners left their toilet and walked over to the toilet in which the Yankees were hiding. The Southerner knocked on the door and said, "Ticket, please."

Thank you. Thank you very much.